DNA Damage, Epigenetics, and Aging
Damage to our DNA is correlated with various aging processes, and recent work shows that it also changes the epigenome
DNA and aging
We may be made of star stuff, but it’s our DNA that (partially) determines what shape that star stuff will take — and how that shape will change over our lifetime.
Each of our cells contains the complete DNA recipe for a human being. The difference between cells reflects the different sequence of gene activation, but the genome — barring mutations that arise after conception — is the same in each cell. Most of the DNA of the human genome is found in the cell’s nucleus, with some small DNA fragments floating around in the mitochondria.
Certain chunks of DNA are genes, sequences that code for a protein. Those DNA sequences are transcribed into messengers RNA which is then translated into a sequence of amino acids. Linked together, these amino acids make a protein. There are also genes that influence the activity of other genes. They are called transcription factors, and… some of those appear to be quite important in the processes of aging.
This brings us to the focus of this post.
